1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to a cylinder lock door closer for storm doors, screen doors and the like. More particularly, the present invention relates to a cylinder lock door closer for storm doors, screen doors and the like which retains a door in its open position, while permitting the door to close under spring action, after a pulse of further opening pressure is applied to the door.
2. Discussion
In many buildings, storm doors or screen doors and the like are mounted outside the primary doors of the structure. Such doors almost always will not stay open unless held open by the user or a door closer device is manually positioned so as to hold the door in its open position. Usually, a compression spring is used to immediately return and close such secondary doors after they are released by the user.
In many cases, however, it is desirable that the secondary door be left open when the user is going back and forth through the door, has both arms occupied, is elderly, handicapped, or not ambulatory as in a wheelchair, or is simply attempting to open the primary door while still being able to immediately close the secondary door with relatively little effort.
In many door closers of the telescoping spring return type, a braking mechanism is mounted on a central telescoping piston rod to hold the door open. This type of design operates when the brake, usually a clip or washer located about the piston rod, is manually positioned to prevent the piston rod from retracting into a spring-containing housing. A difficulty with this type of closure is that it must be manually set and released, which is inconvenient if a person's hands and arms are occupied, such as when the person is carrying a large object or numerous objects through the doorway, or if the person is elderly, handicapped, or not ambulatory as in a wheelchair. Therefore, it is desirable to have a cylinder lock door closure device which allows a door to remain in its open position, and immediately return and close with relatively little effort from the user.